5 “And
when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in
the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell
you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you
pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And
when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be
heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for
your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This,
then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our
Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
14 For
if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others
their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
When
the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard
questions. 2 Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great
caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious
stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her
mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too
hard for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba
saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5 the
food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in
their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at[a] the temple
of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
6 She
said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements
and your wisdom is true. 7 But I did not believe these things
until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in
wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. 8 How
happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand
before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you
and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to
maintain justice and righteousness.”
10 And
she gave the king 120 talents[b] of gold,
large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many
spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 (Hiram’s
ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought great cargoes of
almugwood[c] and precious
stones. 12 The king used the almugwood to make supports[d] for the
temple of the Lord and for the
royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood
has never been imported or seen since that day.)
13 King
Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he
had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her
retinue to her own country.
14 The
weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[e]15 not
including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian
kings and the governors of the territories.
16 King
Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels[f] of gold
went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred small
shields of hammered gold, with three minas[g] of gold in
each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 Then
the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The
throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat
were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve
lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it
had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s
goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest
of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was
considered of little value in Solomon’s days. 22 The king had a
fleet of trading ships[h] at sea
along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying
gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
23 King
Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the
wisdom God had put in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone
who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices,
and horses and mules.
26 Solomon
accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve
thousand horses,[i] which he
kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The
king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as
sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were
imported from Egypt and from Kue[j]—the royal
merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29 They
imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse
for a hundred and fifty.[k] They also
exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.
38 “You
have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h]39 But
I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone
wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If
anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give
to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow
from you.
